Newsletter

UPDATE: More than 1,700 traffic citations issued during Operation Thunder in Savannah

Roadblocks and ramped-up police presence on metro Savannah roadways aren’t going anywhere any time soon. With the 90-day Operation Thunder nearing its midpoint, police on Tuesday announced they’ve issued more than 1,700 citations as part of the multi-agency crackdown on aggressive and drunken driving.

“We’re seeing fewer impaired drivers,” said Terry Enoch, interim assistant chief of the Savannah-Chatham police department. “More drivers are paying attention to their driving and less to their cellphones. And the officers of this operation have taken more than 50 dangerous people off the streets.”

The operation, a joint effort between the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety and metro police, was invited into the area by Interim Police Chief Julie Tolbert and began May 30. Troopers from the Georgia State Patrol and other police officers from around Georgia are in town for the operation, which is in part a response to the number of fatal and serious wrecks last year.

So far during the operation, 30 roadblocks have been conducted across Savannah and unincorporated Chatham County, said metro police Maj. James Barnwell.

The operation’s brass said they were alarmed at the number of citations being issued for child seat violations. So far, 187 citations have been written because children were found to be improperly secured.

“If someone is making a concerted effort, we’re not going to be writing them a ticket,” said Harris Blackwood, director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. “We may warn them. But these are people who are willfully endangering the lives of children, and that number surprised us.”

Additionally, police have issued two citations to pedestrians for safety violations.

“This is a town where people walk, especially down here in this beautiful historic area,” Blackwood said. “We want people to do that safely: Walk at a crosswalk, do the things that really can make you safe. When people don’t obey those laws, that’s when people usually get in trouble in terms of injuries or fatalities in terms of pedestrian cases.”

Police working Operation Thunder are mainly focused on traffic, but they’ve handled some other activity as well. While conducting road checks, officers have made 25 drug arrests and 19 felony arrests, apprehended seven fugitives and recovered two stolen vehicles while conducting 30 road checks, said metro police spokesman Julian Miller.

Police did not give an exact date for when Operation Thunder will come to an end, but initially said it was a 90-day operation. On Tuesday, they said it would continue for “an undisclosed amount of time.”

Police have also issued 828 warnings during the operation.

“People don’t need to get behind the wheel of a car after they’ve been drinking, because they put others’ lives in danger,” Enoch said. “And so this is an education campaign, an awareness campaign, and we’re going to continue to be out there to make our roads safe. We don’t want to lose another life due to a reckless driver or someone behind the wheel who shouldn’t be there or ... a child not in the correct safety restraints.”

OPERATION THUNDER CITATIONS AND WARNINGS

Citations and warnings from Operation Thunder through the past weekend, as provided by Savannah-Chatham police: